Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-02-22-Speech-2-023"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20050222.4.2-023"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, a majority of the members of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs agreed on a largely balanced report, even if Mr Goebbels is distancing himself from that report today. I think it is important for us to ask the Commission to take the following four points on board.
Firstly, there has been a considerable delay in implementing the Lisbon strategy. One of the reasons for this is that the strategy includes a large number of objectives. In November, the Kok group recommended concentrating on a limited number of priorities. That is a sensible strategy and one we support. We would encourage the Commission to concentrate its efforts on the priorities proposed by the Kok group, and the statements made by the Commission in this context give us grounds for optimism. We are also calling on the Commission to analyse best practice in the Member States and to learn from it. This best practice approach will make it possible, on the basis of successful examples in one Member State, to make recommendations to other Member States.
Secondly, the Commission should concentrate even more on the completion of the internal market, in order clearly to demonstrate to consumers the concrete benefits of the European single market, in the form of better and cheaper products and services. There are still barriers to trade in some areas. This is indefensible both in terms of a properly functioning internal market and of fair competition. The public needs to see clear progress on this.
Thirdly, we are not against reforming the Stability and Growth Pact, contrary to what Mr Goebbels has suggested, but we are opposed to watering down the pact, which guarantees not only the independence of the ECB but also the stability of the euro. We support the Commission’s wish to strengthen the preventive side of the pact, but that does not mean, as Mr Goebbels is perhaps suggesting, that it should be permissible to have a deficit of less than 3% when things are going well but to run up a deficit of over 3% in bad times. When the going is good, reserves should be built up so that the deficit criteria can also be complied with or only marginally exceeded in economically difficult times, so that the overall cumulative level of debt can be gradually reduced.
I now come to my fourth and final point. The members of the ALDE Group on the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs tabled an amendment on the necessary structural reforms in the Member States. Although that amendment was accepted, as the result of an error – on whose part I do not know – it was not incorporated into the final version. We would therefore like to table this amendment once again here in the plenary, as an oral amendment. The text of this amendment is as follows: the European Parliament recommends that the Member States should implement the long overdue structural reforms required to achieve the improvement in the investment climate that is a prerequisite for economic growth.
What matters here is that we highlight the enormous importance of structural reforms for economic growth, and make it clear that responsibility for this lies with the Member States. It is high time that the EU overcame the problem of the continuing excessive commitment of resources to preserving outdated structures. Furthermore, the Member States should take targeted measures to bring the black economy under control, as it is an obstacle to healthy growth and stability. Only in that way can we make rapid progress towards achieving the Lisbon objectives."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples